Vehicles typically have a light source positioned to illuminate a license plate on a rear closure panel. The light source is typically a bulb that is part of a lamp assembly, and a lens covers the light source. The bulb is connected with a power source via a wire and an electrical connector. The lamp assembly must be specifically designed to provide adequate illumination, and have appropriate thermal ventilation.
Some vehicles also have a touch pad on the same closure panel as the lamp assembly. The touch pad is movable when pressed to activate a switch that unlatches a latch assembly. When unlatched, the closure panel can be moved to an open state, either manually or via a power source such as a power motor. The packaging area provided adjacent the license plate is relatively small, and packaging both a light source and a touch pad is challenging. In one known application, a touch pad is located adjacent to and is partially surrounded by a lens. The touch pad pivots inward about a torsional axis at one end of the touch pad when depressed, and has arms at either end that bias the touch pad to an undepressed position.